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258
per højholt
there, preserving as such the
illusion that their presence in
the blockhouses had a
purpose, which of course it no
longer possessed, excepting
the few nights in which the
ears invaded the area inside
the rampart and, one by one,
snuck across while miming
blue-mussel-shells-washed-
ashore-by-the-tide. Scarcely
had they reached the other
side before the ears ’
discomfort at the big empty
sand stretch sent the small,
opalescent flock scurrying for
the gigantic limestone cliff,
which in the moonlight shone
with a mother-of-pearl
luminescence similar to the
moon’s own. Regarding these
ears, who from the entire
Iberian peninsula flocked to
Gibraltar after their year in
neutral territory in order to
now join the winning side post
festum, there is considerable
evidence, thanks mostly to
the small area that played
host to such a large number
of ears, ensuring that
perpetual confrontations with
the Rock’s military presence
took place. Still, these eye-
witness accounts are oddly
distributed, as it quickly
became standard garrison
practice to declare any English
mi l itary personnel who
brought up the subject of
camp capitalizing ears to be
having a “spell” and to send
them home mid-sentence.
Valuable knowledge is
accordingly scattered all
throughout Great Britain and,
as it may be, swept aside by
electroshock and various
forms of manuduction. In
1937 a few progressives under
the influence of the Spanish
Civil War took it into their
heads to gather and compile
what they could of these
firsthand accounts, though